Car-coupling



(No Model.) I E. S. THOMAS & J. E. LITTLEJOHN.

GAR COUPLING.

No. 460,537. Patented Apr. 14,1891.

WEI/messes:

- U ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD STEPHEN THOMAS AND JOSEPH EDWARD LITTLEJOHN, OF CEDAR 1 RAPIDS,IOIVA.

CAR-COUPLING.

LBPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 450,537, dated April14, 1891.

Application filed January 6, 1891.

T at whom it may concern:

Be itknown that we, EDWARD STEPHEN THOMAS and JOSEPH EDWARD LITTLEJOHN,of Cedar Rapids, in the county of Linn and 5 State of Iowa,have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Car- Couplings; and wedo hereby declarethe fol lowing to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable oth- [o ers skilled inthe art to which it pertains to make and use it, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

Our invention relates to an improvement in is automatic car-couplings;and it consists in the combination and arrangement of parts, which willbe fully described hereinafter.

The object of our invention is to construct a couplingof the kind knownas twin jaw,

in which the jaw-locking mechanism is located in the forward end of thecoupling instead of in its rear portion, as now usually constructed, andalso to pivot the jaw near its rear end to the draw-head in such amanner as to bring the said pivotal point as near as possible in a linewith the draft.

Heretofore the jaw has been pivoted to one side of the draw-head andlocked at its rear end, thus constituting the forward end of the jaw alever which must sustain all the strain of the draft. By ourconstruction the strain is greatly reduced by having the stop or lookfor the jaw at its front end, where the said lock will receive at oncethe draft from the 3 5 jaw without the latter being subjected to sogreat a leverage.

Figure 1 is a top view showing the jaw locked in solid lines andunlocked in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a detached perspective view 40 ofthe jaw. Fig. 3 is a similar view of the locking-pin. Fig. at is aperspective view of the draw-head.

The draw-head A is secured to the car in the ordinary manner and has itsforward end extended into the two curved projections B C on each side ofits center. The projection C is constructed flaring, as shown, andserves as a guide for the connecting coupler. Formed in the face of theportion Bis a horizontal 5o circular depression, whichextends its entirelength and in which oscillates or swings Serial No. 376,885. (N0 model.)

the jaw E on the pivot F, the pivotal point being near the rear end ofthe jaw. At the forward end of the portion B the depression extendsentirely across the said portion, forming the forwardly-extendingflanges H H, which are provided with the openings I 1', respectively, inwhich slides the pin J, constructed with the upper enlarged end and thelower smaller portion, forming at their junction their shoulder K.

The outer side of the jaw E is cut away or reduced from its rear to nearits front end, thus forming the shoulder L. hen the jaw is in a lockedposition or coupled, the shoulder L bears against the enlarged upperportion of the pin J, thus holding the'outer end of the jaw F in anextended position, as when locked with the jaw of the adjacent coupler.

Vhen in an unlocked position, the locking- I pin J is raised until theshoulder K onsaid pin rests upon the shoulder L of the jaw.

In operation the jaw of the adjacent coupler entering strikes the rearend M ofthe jaw E, which extends slightly forward from the rear face ofthe draw-head. WVhen the said rear end M is pushed inward, the forwardend of the jaw is forced outward and allows the enlarged portion of thepin J to drop down behind the shoulder L and lock the two jaws of the.connecting-couplers in engagement. The forward end of the jaw E isprovided with the recess N and the perforation O for attaching with theordinary pinandlink In order to locate the locking coupling. mechanismin the forward end of the drawhead, it becomes necessary to extend thesaid forward end into the flanges, as heretofore described. Theseflanges form the space in which the shoulder end of the jaw swings andin which the said jaw is locked by the sliding pin. As shown by thedotted line of draft in Fig. 1, it will be seen that the engaging sideof the locking-pin and the. pivotal pin are in a line with each other inthe direction of the draft.

Having thus described our invention, we claim- 1. In an automaticcar-coup1ing, the drawhead provided with a curved projection, a [00depression in'the inner face of the projection, a jaw pivoted near therear end of the said depression and provided with a shoulder on itsouter face near its forward end, and a locking-pin, substantially asshown and de scribed.

2. An automatic car coupling provided with a curved extension having adepression in the inner face of said extension, a jaw pivoted near itsrear end in the depressionand provided with a shoulder on its outer facenear its front end, and a sliding locking-pin having an enlarged upperportion, forming a shoulder between its ends, whereby it is supported ina raised position on the shoulder L, substantially as shown anddescribed.

3. In an automatic car-coupling; the drawhead, the curved projectionprovided with a depression, the perforated extensions on saidprojection, a locking-pinhaving a rectangular upper portion and'asmaller lower portion EDWARD STEPHEN THOMAS. JOSEPH EDWARD LITTLEJOIIN.

Witnesses:

HERBERT POTTER, JOSEPH MOORE.

